A 22-year-old Kenyan man participating in a professional exchange program in Germany tragically died on Sunday, August 10, 2025. The young man, identified as Austine Kawisa, drowned after entering a pond known as the Donaualtheimer Schütte, located between Donaualtheim and Finningen in the Dillingen district.
Austine Kawisa reportedly went swimming during his day off. According to German police, he went underwater and did not resurface. Emergency responders launched a rescue operation involving divers and a helicopter.
He was found nearly an hour later, but resuscitation efforts failed. It is reported that Austine had gone to the pond with a friend. While Austine claimed he could swim, his friend stayed onshore because he couldn’t.
Austine Kawisa Dies After Drowning
Moments later, Austine went underwater. His disappearance prompted an emergency response, with police and rescue teams arriving soon after.
Authorities have not yet confirmed whether Austine knew how to swim, and the Criminal Investigation Department is currently investigating the exact circumstances of the drowning.
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Austine had been staying in the Dillingen district as part of an agricultural exchange program, where he was learning modern farming practices to eventually start his own farm in Kenya.
Recent Drowning Cases Involving Kenyans in Germany
Austine’s tragic death comes just months after Victor Ondimu Rangi, another Kenyan youth, drowned while swimming with friends in June 2025. Victor, who had lived in Germany for seven years, was swimming with a group of seven young people aged between 18 and 24.
Three of them, including Victor, drowned, while one was rescued. German police held Victor’s body pending investigation. His family appealed for financial help to Kenyans to help them bring airlift his body to Kenya.
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In a separate incident, a 24-year-old Kenyan computer science student at Arden University in Berlin drowned on June 21, 2025, at Groß Glienicker See Lake during an outing with friends.
Earlier, in July 2015, Joshua K’Oduka, a Kenyan student attending language courses at the University of Leipzig, drowned in a lake just one month after arriving in Germany. Joshua was a graduate of Maseno University and a researcher in medical entomology and parasitology.
His body was flown back to Kenya for burial in Homa Bay. His mother, Benta K’Oduka, later confirmed that the incident occurred during a summer swimming session.
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